There were some constants in the world: People are selfish, trust issues are natural and, in most cases, healthy and everything around me must eventually go to hell.
"You're being overdramatic this is a Tuesday at best, hardly the actual end of the human race and or super powered psycho bomber or superpowered murderhobos or hundreds of clones of said murderhobos… I could continue." I glared at the geist on the window of my office as I sipped my tea.
Just because it could be worse doesn't mean it's not bad. Seriously, this world was messed up enough without more people with powers. And mind reading… it is well within the powers of the passengers to grant but they don't grant powers like that.
They make people work to get the most out of their powers. So, either my own passenger changed its modus operandi and budded another passenger that does grant that power… Or much likelier and much more terrifyingly there is another entity. I felt a hallow chuckle emerge from deep within as I took in that possibility.
Sacrifice everything to kill one alien bastard, another shows up without any fanfare! How nice.
"You're ignoring another possibility." Said Lisa's shadow from her position atop a reflected chair in the window. She lounged like she was at total peace, a remarkable difference to my tense posture atop my noticeably more comfortable office chair.
The shadow stretched like a cat atop the chair and replied with a bored voice. "What if it is another source of powers?" I raised an eyebrow at her. And how is that better?
"I imagine that most higher dimensional entities aren't necessarily hostile or exploitative towards humanity. Otherwise, we'd all be dead already. So, it could be something that just grants powers for an agenda that isn't necessarily harmful to humanity. Of course, it could also be some mad science experiment or something like that."
So, either there is another alien so powerful we might as well be mites, currently observing this world other than the one I carry with me or there is some psycho out there that managed to make superpowers in a bottle that doesn't come from the corpse of an alien 'god'.
"Pretty much." She replied simply.
I laid my head on to my desk and sighed deeply. Why was my life always so complicated?
"You actively complicate it yourself." Said the copy of Lisa. She had a point but even I wanted to be whiny sometimes.
I forcefully raised my head up finished my now very cold tea. Better get to making it less complicated already. Shirley had learned of both Lelouch's and Kallen's identities. Thankfully mine remained safe. Nonetheless it was a loose end to deal with, naturally I couldn't just kill her. I couldn't convince her to not reveal those identities myself either if I wanted to protect my identity. So Kallen would have to do it.
Now to convince Kallen to talk to Shirley. I walked with a brisk pace through the halls of the school towards where Kallen was eating her lunch along with a few of her classmates in the garden. I ignored the looks and gossip that followed me everywhere.
The flow of conversation and topics changed day by day, but my name had become much more common these days. I would be lying if I said it didn't bother me at all, it did but I had so much to deal with that that concern kept getting pushed into the back of my mind.
I walked down another flight of stairs and exited into the garden. I walked directly towards my query, who was sitting underneath a tree nibbling a sandwich half-heartedly next to a few other girls and was clearly not taking part in the conversation. She looked troubled but that was not a surprise, she must've been concerned about what to do with Shirley.
The girls noticed me before Kallen did and shot questioning looks my way. I paid them no mind and walked till I was directly before Kallen.
Kallen turned her head up to look at me with curiosity. I was naturally not about to say what I was here for right in the middle of everyone, so I made an excuse.
"Kallen, could you come with me to my office? We need to talk about the lessons you've missed and arrange some extra classes." I said with my best 'concerned teacher' voice.
"Ah… yes, of course Miss Hebert. Please give me a second." Now that I had seen how she normally acted her sickly and meek girl persona grated even more. But it was a useful cover.
She bid her supposed 'friends', goodbye and quickly gathered her stuff. I led her back into my office so that we could talk peacefully.
"Ugh, finally. Those girls are so annoying." She complained once we were inside.
"Don't you sit with them willingly to maintain your cover?" I replied. Kallen scoffed and spoke with a tired voice.
"No, if I wanted that I'd just eat with the student council. Those girls just crowd around me every time I eat outside. As if being around the 'sick' girl is some kind of obligation."
"Maybe you should eat with the student council then, you at least marginally consider them friends."
Kallen grimaced at my words. "If I sit with them, I'm going to have to see Lelouch and that is way too uncomfortable right now. Not even mentioning Shirley, which is another… problem." She said.
I seated myself on to my seat and leaned back. "About that… I wanted to talk to you about what we're going to do about Shirley."
"And what are we going to do about her? Cause I'm at the end of my wits here. I can't just go up to her and say: 'Hey, sorry about killing your father. Could you please not report us to the military cause otherwise I'm going to have to kill you!', can I?" Kallen snarked.
She was steadily getting better at the 'snarky and sassy teen' replies she gave whenever I was with her, was I being a bad influence?
Still about what she said… Is there a way I could soften up Shirley to get her more receptive towards Kallen? No, there is not. I doubt she'd be receptive to the Black Knights in any way… unless. But no.
No, that would be such a terrible thing to do. I eyed the drawer with the secret compartment I kept the Code-R documents in.
The shock would make Shirley easier to manipulate… Still, showing Shirley the fucked-up things her father did so we could take advantage of her vulnerable mental state and manipulate her was objectively a terrible thing.
Am I going to do that? But the other options are killing her or threatening her and even then only one of them is reliable. This way her mental state might not be very… good but at least she could eventually forget about all this and put it behind her… Maybe.
I looked up at the pleading eyes of Kallen begging me to find a way out of this. Damn, it. We have no choice, better she's alive and disturbed than dead in a ditch somewhere.
"I might have an idea…" I said and Kallen's eyes lit up with relief.
"You do?" She shouted. I grimaced at her excited tone yet continued.
"I know of some… personal things about Shirley and her father that I could use to… shock her. You would still have to convince her, but it would be a lot easier to do so." I took in her curious face and decided to warn her before she got over eager.
"Still she can't be in the best of head spaces so this might be risky, you'd need to both convince her to not share your identities and help anchor her a bit." I finished.
Kallen pondered my words for a moment. "That sounds reasonable, but I'm not just going to be able to easily do that. I'm not some master manipulator or something like that."
"Well you're the only one we have unless you want Lelouch to know you know his identity." Kallen scowled in response.
"Let's not go with that. I still need to find out more about Lelouch's intentions." She said. She was right of course, finding out more about him was vital before she could fully trust him, though I knew for a fact that he wouldn't harm Shirley or any one from the student council. He valued them too much. But I doubted he would be able to resolve the Shirley situation either.
"It really does just fall to me, doesn't it?" Kallen uttered under her breath, and I shot a sympathetic glance her way. I've been there Kallen, I've been there quite a lot of times.
I stayed silent as she built up the determination. "I'll do it." She said simply.
"Then ask Shirley to talk to her after classes but also tell her that I'm calling her to my office." I said grimly. Kallen appeared surprised.
"She came to school today?" She asked with incredulity.
"Like nothing was wrong. I don't think she internalised everything that has happened yet, she's fallen into her routine. So, we need to act now, before she decides to do anything rash." I replied.
"Alright, then. I'll send her your way and talk to her this evening." With those final words Kallen turned to leave, but just as she reached for the door she stopped.
"Miss Hebert, one last thing." She said without turning to look at me. Her voice had lost its grim tone which was replaced with unsettled worry. I turned my full attention back towards her. "Do you… do you think we will encounter more people with powers?" It would've been hard to miss the anxiety in her voice.
We had handled the supposed mind reader extremely well, but that was due to that terrible power interaction and rash decision making, not any merit of our own. If a competent person with a power that could counter mine ever appeared they could become a real problem, a human Master especially would be terrifying if they knew what they were doing.
"I hope we won't. Not just because enemies with powers are dangerous, no we can deal with anyone, who shows up even if it'll cost us. But powers… powers are a bad omen if more show up only misery will follow. But… I'm never that lucky." The very thought of powers becoming commonplace in this World terrified me.
If people began triggering en masse the already unstable politics of this world would absolutely flip, the consequences that would bring would kill us all before whatever the source of these new powers were did. "Kallen, prepare for difficult times." I warned with all the solemnity it required.
Kallen replied only with a non-committal hum. She left thereafter. Whatever I do, it felt like I only made things harder for Kallen.
Well, I was about to make things easier for her… By ruining Shirley's memories of her father.
I opened my drawer slowly. I hated what I was going to do, but this was for the best. I reached deeper into the drawer and wedged a piece of paper to the side of the back of the drawer. It took a bit of fiddling but with a soft click the back panel came off. I reached inside and pulled out the copies of the classified documents I had made. I placed them on my desk and carefully placed the cover back. I would put them back after I talked to Shirley.
I stared at the meticulously documented records of genuine human experimentation. I had heard about human experimentation before, but it had been abstract, the closest I had to an experience with it was Bonesaw.
And the things that girl did, while gruesome; disgusting and terrifying, could not be called human 'experimentation'. It was more so medical malpractice with a hefty bit of psychopathic obsession and general torture mixed in.
What made these documents so oddly disturbing was the way it was written. Every cut documented to its millimetres, every time an organ was removed and replaced a detailed explanation of the procedure was included, when they cut open the nerves to try and connect them for their prototypes the reactions of the test subject -that unknown regenerator- were all written down with extreme detail.
It was scary in a different manner than what I was used to, this wasn't terror. It wasn't even dread. No it was distressing, the way they wrote what they were doing so cleanly with the only emotion being the fascination they felt as they recorded the results. Clinical, it was all way too clinical.
The men that did this didn't scare me because they were threatening, they did so because they represented just how far a human being could objectify another living breathing person.
I was somewhat glad that Lloyd had given me the file that only contained the experiments about nerve connections instead of the much more in-depth experiments they had apparently conducted as they researched the parahumans regeneration.
A knock came from my door, more time must've passed than I had thought while I was thinking about the papers.
"Come in!" I called out. A second passed and then Shirley timidly opened the door. She looked inside as if debating taking the step in was worth it or not. The way she approached the office, which she had entered without worry hundreds of times to seek out my advice or to get me to rein Milly in made this entire situation even more uncanny.
Finally she reluctantly stepped inside.
"Miss Hebert? Kallen said you called for me." She said softly. I took in her brittle smile, sunken eyes, and pale skin. She looked like she was on the verge of collapsing. Had she not slept at all? Who am I kidding she must've been breaking down due to everything that was happening around her.
And I had to make it worse.
I pointed at one of the wooden seats in front of my desk. "Please sit Shirley. I have something to tell you." She approached the chair with individual steps and reluctantly sat down.
She started fidgeting in her seat the moment she sat down full of nervous energy. I took only a moment to prepare myself to not stress her any further.
"You must be wondering why I called you here. Initially I thought that I should keep this from you for the sake of your… emotional wellbeing. However, I believe that you have a right to know what your father was working on and why he did not evacuate like the rest of the city when the warnings from the military came." Shirley had tensed up the moment her father was mentioned. Not an unexpected reaction, his death was the thing that had gotten this entire ball rolling.
I pushed the folder in my hands over my desk towards her. She watched the folder with palpable fear and didn't reach for it even when it was directly in front of her.
"W-What is this?" She asked fearfully. I replied to her honestly.
"A part of what your father and his team worked on." I tapped my cybernetic arm. "And what allowed me to build this."
She still didn't reach for the folder. Instead staring at me with fearful eyes. I could tell it wasn't me that scared her but what she would find inside the folder. Yet she still reached her hand out to the folder and grasped it reluctantly. I sat without making a noise as she opened the cover and began reading.
She didn't react visibly as she read the beginning of the reports, the strictly theoretical parts. But as she got deeper into the document her that stoicism faded quickly. It began with shock, eyes wide open face even paler than before. Then it became disbelief coupled with disgust. But finally as she continued to skim through the incriminating pages one emotion took precedent over all others, despair.
She dropped the folder, with its edges crumpled by her tight grip, on to the desk. With teary eyes she looked at me. "Th-this is all a joke, right? You have to have gotten something wrong! My dad wouldn't do any of this! Miss Hebert, please tell me this is a poor joke!" She pleaded with false humour and a shaking voice.
"I will not lie to you Shirley." I said. The moment I said that Shirley, for the lack of a better word, shattered. Spontaneously she shook violently, wept, and screamed in equal measure. I found myself jumping out of my seat and rushing around the edge of my table towards her.
I caught her and pulled her close to myself before she could fall from her chair in her sudden outburst.
I hugged her close to my chest as she wept. I couldn't understand a word she said as she clutched onto me and cried. She was beyond hysterical. Though she struggled to break free from my grasp I didn't let the girl go as she pounded her fists against my body. I let her let loose her grief within my grasp.
I stood there inside my office and tried to console the girl, who had far too much taken from her far too quickly. Her father, her trust in her friends, her innocence and now even the good memories of her father were tainted by the kind of things he had done.
I gently rubbed her back as she kept weeping. I did not know how to console someone, no that is a lie. I knew how to console civilians caught up in parahuman fights. It was a class I was forced to take while in the wards, but that class hadn't exactly tought how to deal with something like this.
I don't know how long it lasted until Shirley stopped crying, but even after her tears stopped, she kept sobbing. "What… What… am I going to do now!? Ev-" she broke out in a coughing fit in the middle of her words but kept going. "Everything is going to hell! It all piles on, I can't get even a day just to process it all!" She screamed out through violent the sobs that racked her body.
I had only one advice to give her. "You take them on directly. I can't know what you're going through Shirley, but no problem goes away by not dealing with it. You can talk to those you trust; you can take some time to mentally sort through what is going on, you can do whatever you deem necessary. The only thing that you can't do is collapse under the pressure, because if you do… You will be stuck laying upon the ground wasting away." I told her to do exactly what I always did.
It was vague and I knew it didn't always work, that sometimes the World was determined to keep you down. But that didn't mean Shirley didn't need it right now.
The girl had gone silent merely heavily breathing with her face covered by her hands and her entire torso slumping down towards her knees. I knew for a fact that I couldn't do anything for her, I wasn't good at this.
No, I wasn't just not good at it, I was terrible. But I knew someone who was good at it, someone who understood people well. Milly. "Shirley, I'm going to go to the student council room and go get Milly, okay?" I told her and got a teary-eyed nod in response.
I left the room with hurried steps making sure to keep an eye on Shirley with my bugs just in case. The student council room wasn't too far but I didn't want to make Shirley wait, so I actively avoided the crowds of students in the halls with my swarm and pushed through where I couldn't.
Milly was inside the council room watching the news along with Rivalz, Nunnally, Nina and Alice.
"After the shocking and dishonourable ambush and kidnapping of Viceroy Cornelia by the terrorist organization The Black Knights Sub-Viceroy and Her Royal Highness Cornelia Li Britannia's younger sibling the Third Princess Euphemia Li Britannia has taken over all administrative duties of the Viceroy." The host of the same propaganda channel, that had once showed me, droned on.
Euphemia was the name of the Princess that was clinging off Suzaku, so she really was in control of the entirety of Japan. What a powerful patron Suzaku had found. That boy must be lucky beyond belief.
"The Acting Viceroy has stated that the public should not worry as she is sure that the situation with the Black Knights will be resolved shortly. This public statement was not the only thing the Acting Viceroy has done since recently taking up her role. A wide range of administrative changes have been made and many the Third Princess announced that many new policies regarding the Eleven and Honorary Britannian population will be implemented soon." That girl sure moves fast, she's consolidating power insanely fast but that should cause pushback from the nobles.
"Hmmmmm… That new Acting Viceroy, sure is different from her sister." Rivalz spoke and ignited a discussion among the students inside whether it was a good or bad thing.
Though I wanted to pay attention and listen to their thoughts I was already at the door. I moved to open the door with hurry.
The moment I grasped the door handle I realised the mistake I had made. My cybernetic arm crushed the handle and snapped its edge off with a terrible screech. The door still opened, and I saw the entirety of the room's occupants looking at me in shock.
I glanced at the remains off the brass handle within my grasp and back at the kids inside. "I'll get this repaired later." I told them.
"Oh, don't worry about it. I always wanted something that made our door more interesting, and well… you don't usually see metals door handles shorn off like that." Milly commented.
I sighed deeply. "More importantly, Milly, I need you to come with me to my office. I need your help with something." I said with the full weight of the tiredness I felt at that moment. Milly perked up in response.
"Oh? What could you need me for?" She asked with both genuine curiosity a bit of her usual bravado and a healthy bit of concern.
"I'll explain on the way there, we don't have time." She still had a questioning look but got off the chair she was leaning back on and followed me out of the room.
"Are we seriously going to leave the door like that?" I heard Rivalz ask. I paid him no mind. If Milly wanted to leave it so she could. There was a much more urgent matter to deal with.
We passed into a hallway without any students mulling about and I finally started explaining some of the situation to Milly.
"There have been some developments in Shirley's private life that are… distressing for her. And I-" Just as I was explaining Milly cut me off.
"And you need me to help console Shirley, because when it comes to things like this you are not the best person to ask, right." I gave her an annoyed look but nodded anyways.
"Oh boy, can you at least tell me what this is about then?" Milly asked with trepidation. Yeah… I really shouldn't.
"I shouldn't. Just know that something came to light regarding Shirley's father, and Shirley didn't react well. She will tell you more if she wants to." Milly frowned at my reply.
"I'll… I'll do what I can." She eventually replied gravely.
"That's all I can ask." I replied with earnest thankfulness.
I let Milly inside once we were before the door and followed her in. I grabbed the documents on my table and stuffed them into my satchel. Milly had sat next to Shirley to comfort her when I left. I didn't stay to listen in, I had a lot to do today and needed to meet up with the Black Knights this evening before today's operation. Hopefully Kallen would also be able to do her part with Shirley.
Zero the Symbol of Rebellion
"The new Acting Viceroy's policies are bound to drive recruitment down, and that is without even mentioning the fact that her reputation as a softer ruler will make it so that people will not be as strongly inclined to join us against her." Diethard reported his predictions.
"I see, more victories would naturally set us back on the right track especially with the JLF gone. Do you have any other ideas, Diethard?" I asked as we walked through the temporary encampment near the edge of the settlement towards where the new knightmares we had received were being carefully inspected by maintenance.
"I presume you mean other than assassinating her? Well… normally I would suggest a scandal, but Princess Euphemia has lived a mostly sheltered life and has kept to herself. The only scandalous thing we know about her is that she prefers offering the Japanese and other Numbers a kinder hand. Hardly something we could do something with." He said as we turned the corner and moved towards where the Guren and some Burai's were receiving maintenance.
I could see that three new trucks had arrived. They must've been Rakshata and her team's.
"Then we must unfortunately use brute force, simply prove her incompetent by crushing her forces in every turn. She can't have a strong support base among the nobles, if we make her look weak, they should pounce." I said.
Diethard's eyes lit up. "Yes! Exactly what I was thinking, this is an opportunity to both prove our strength and easily discredit the Princess thus throwing the leadership of Area 11 once again into chaos." I gave Diethard's excited rant a curt nod as a response. He was a sharp man, a predictable one but still quite sharp when it came to his expertise.
"I must greet our new guests; you already know of the tasks I assigned you." I dismissed him.
Diethard bowed his head deeply.
"Yes, Zero." He acknowledged,
He quickly made himself scarce. What a dangerous yet reliable ally he was, him along with Weaver never failed to cause me stress. Speaking of Weaver… There she was off to the side next to Kallen, who was wearing her visor as she tended to do.
She must've thought being near her would make it easier to find me.
I approached the two lightly and Weaver's head pivoted towards me the moment I set foot within five metres. How unsettling, does she do that on purpose, I wonder.
In any case Kallen left her spot next to Weaver and moved to stand behind me to my right.
"Weaver, I see that you've come. I hope I didn't keep you waiting for too long."
Her body language did not change at all, but she did react to me. "Not too long, I still don't have any idea what you wanted to show me so eagerly." She said with her usual calm voice.
"It is best to show you. But in short, Kyoto has managed to find a Knightmare suitable to your particular talents." I explained as I started moving towards where the new trucks had parked with the two women following behind me.
"A Knightmare? I have little experience with one, I would not trust myself in live combat." Weaver admitted honestly and I chuckled a bit in response.
"Do not worry about that too much, your Knightmare isn't built for frontline combat, it is a modified model focused on ambush warfare. Not much expertise required with your power. In any case, we will find someone to run you through the basics." I reasoned and it seemed to set Weaver's mind at ease as she didn't argue further.
"I will teach her Zero, we have that operation tonight, we shouldn't risk her getting inferior instruction." Kallen said. I was somewhat surprised by how eager she was becoming these days; she had really gotten into her grove. I decided to humour her.
"Very well. However, we still need to pick up the keys from the people Kyoto sent." Saying that I could already see Rakshata arguing with some Black Knights, specifically Tamaki. Internally sighing I quickened my pace to prevent any long-term grudges.
"So you've made it." I called out. Tamaki and the other Black Knights suddenly stiffened in response to my voice like a child being caught by their parents. Rakshata however turned towards me with a neutral expression.
"You're Zero? And those two must be…" She glanced from Weaver and then to Kallen. "Weaver and… What was it those men called you? Aha, Lotus, right?" From the corner of my eye I saw Kallen cringe at the nickname that had been given to her. It was a good name and functioned to associate her more closely with me, but she apparently disliked it.
After that Rakshata's face took on a pensive expression. Focused on someone that had for some reason caught her attention. Namely, Weaver. The two stared at each other. Rakshata with an oddly intense expression and Weaver with a body language that contained tension extremely unlike her.
"You, Weaver… Do I know you from somewhere?" Rakshata asked and was met with a curt reply from the Superpowered woman.
"I highly doubt it." An uncomfortable atmosphere began to set in, and I acted quickly to break it.
"It am honoured to have you with us Rakshata, I used to read about you and your fascinating work about medical cybernetics." I said and moved closer for a Handshake.
"Oh, that." Said Rakshata sourly. "I've been one upped in regard to that, by the Earl of Pudding and Taylor too." She said somewhat bitterly, there was no real heat, but she did seem somewhat disappointed by it. Still she took my hand in hers and gave it a firm shake.
I that Weaver had gone totally still, that was a sign that she was disturbed. There was some sort of history with Rakshata. If I could just find out what it is, it would reveal a lot about Weaver.
Rakshata was even more important than I had estimated her to be.
"Still, I hate talking about the past. Especially when there is something more interesting right now." She said.
"I presume you mean the Gekka's and the Akashita." Rakshata smiled and spun her smoking pipe around her fingers as she grabbed a case from one of her assistants and opened it by pushing a button on top with her pipe. The case opened with a click revealing a red and white devicer suit.
"Naturally, however before that It would be awfully rude of me not to deliver Kyoto's gift to a certain red Lotus." She said with a teasing tone, she had clearly picked up on the fact that Kallen did not like her nickname.
Nevertheless Kallen accepted the suit as it was passed to her by one of the assistants and left to try the suit on. Rakshata didn't miss a beat.
"While she does that, how about we show Weaver her new machine. Come along now, it's in the trailer right there." Weaver and I followed behind the Indian scientist as she led us towards the back of the closest trailer and opened its gate with a remote.
Inside an odd Knightmare kneeled with its arms to the side and baleful 'face' facing directly towards us. It was painted in dark grey with its shoulders and forearms highlighted with a dull crimson there was only one word I could use to describe its most distinctive feature, Lanky. The machine was a modified Burai, yet it clearly stood taller than the Burais we used by a metre.
The entire machine looked leaner than the model it originated from with many armour plates being either slightly tinner or in some cases missing entirely. The Knightmare had longer legs with different Landspinners.
Though this difference was the most noticeable one, it wasn't the only clear deviation. There were two oversized Slash Harkens mounted on the sides of the cockpit block in beside the standard issue ones mounted on the shoulders. And behind the forearms the tips of what looked like thinner piledriver stakes poked out. Moreover the cockpit mounted machinegun was also missing replaced by what looked like a container of sorts.
Of course there was another very key difference. The head of the Knightmare was built oddly. The head part, which usually carried the Factsphere of the Knightmare was shorter with a mask composed of four parts that had three smaller 'eyes' on each of them with the top two parts having a single larger 'eye' each. The four parts combined into a sort of thin 'X' shape with the 'cheeks' widening towards the sides.
"How do you like it? A child of mine specifically designed for three-dimensional manoeuvring and sudden strikes with its two piledrivers. We had to sacrifice some of the armour to make it agile enough but the new titanium alloy we used should somewhat make for it." Rakshata began explaining to Weaver, who was carefully inspecting every inch of her new Knightmare.
I had to admit I was somewhat sceptical about this experimental design. But if anyone was going to be able to properly use it, it was going to be Weaver with her swarm.
Undeterred by Weaver's silent inspection Rakshata continued ranting about her new 'child'.
"Of course as the alloy is still more brittle than the usual tungsten alloy, I would not trust it to take repeated hits. It can save you from a few good hits but don't expect it to hold up if you get a magazine dumped into you. Well, with this frame's faster acceleration and higher top speed that should not be an issue." Finally as soon as she was done Rakshata turned towards Weaver with a self-satisfied expression.
"And? What do you think?" She asked.
Weaver stared at her for a bit before replying with a monotone.
"I can work with this." She said. Rakshata's smile turned brittle. I could see her eyebrows twitching.
"Oh, this brings some memories back." She said with barely concealed annoyance.
Thankfully for my blood pressure Kallen arrived just in time to diffuse the bomb about to go off.
"You know, I should've asked before I wore it but what exactly is this suit supposed to do?" She asked from behind me, and we all turned to face her.
Oh… That suit… certainly complements her figure. Despite the visor she was still wearing I could tell Kallen wasn't exactly comfortable inside the nearly skin-tight padded and lightly armoured suit.
I could see why, she was sceptical, that suit wasn't like the usual devicer suit the Britannian military used at all.
"It raises your life expectancy and makes sure that you don't get bruises all over whenever you make a high energy turn. It would be a shame to ruin all that beautiful skin, no? Moreover, now you and Weaver match… If only somewhat." In response to Rakshata's words Kallen sighed deeply.
"Don't you have anything to say about this?" Kallen asked Weaver.
I heard a soft chuckle come from the older woman. "Believe me, it could've been a whole lot worse." She said dryly. I was somewhat inclined to believe that she was somewhat more experienced than us at the matter.
Kallen lowered her visor slightly to hide the blush I saw forming on her face as she kept throwing glances my way. I took it as my que to leave them be for her to instruct Weaver.
Kallen rushed towards the Knightmare and Weaver followed right after her. Those two seemed to get along. A shame, it might be troublesome later when I eventually remove Weaver.
Suzaku Kururugi the Saved Knight
My steps echoed throughout the almost entirely empty high security prison. Britannia didn't keep prisoner in these cells for long as most of the crimes that called for them were punished by hanging or firing squad. It was macabre and savage, but thankfully I hadn't come here for such purpose.
I passed by some Britannian guards on my way there. I saw their sneers towards me, but truly their opinions were meaningless to me. They had no power unlike the nobles that shared their opinions.
But we had a plan to deal with that, no matter how idiotic and bigoted the nobles were they could be forced down when faced with enough strength. Made to obey. What we needed for our plans was a Japan that could be moulded according to our needs, but we couldn't just disappear the nobles that defied Euphie. That would attract attention even with the confusion in the homeland.
It was far too soon to come into direct conflict, a finer hand was needed. Euphie wanted me to be a symbol of her strength, a paragon, her knight. I would prove to these nobles that my strength was enough to crush their ambitions and drive them into despair so that they would bow down to Euphie's demands. And those didn't would be so far and few in between that I'm sure Euphie could arrange something.
I turned the last corner and opened a reinforced door. I emerged in front of five cells. Each one held either a member of the Four Holy Swords or my old teacher Tohdoh Kyoshiro.
The Britannian guard scowled in disgust the moment he saw me.
"Go away you ape, I know what your kind is like. I will not let you treasonous filth release them." He spat out. My face remained blank.
"I am under the orders of the Third Princess Euphemia Li Britannia. I will be talking with the prisoners, and you will leave this section until further orders from me to return lest you be charged with disobeying royalty." I said gravely. The prison guard sneered at me.
"Like an honorary like you would ever ge-" He began saying but I enforced my authority before he could even finish. With a gun naturally.
The shot echoed through the hallway as a bullet hole appeared right underneath his legs. The smoking concrete was a very clear warning about what was to come.
"The punishment for disobeying royalty is clear. It would be best for you to comply." I said simply.
The guard looked like he was both on the verge of tears and had just swallowed a lemon.
"Y-yes, my Lord." He croaked out and practically ran out the room. I holstered my gun and slowly walked in front of the cell that held Tohdoh. The two members of the Holy Swords I passed by looked at me with surprise, they must've recognised me.
Once I was in front of Tohdoh-Sensei, I lowered myself onto the cold floor in a seiza position. He cracked his eyes open. They were neutral, no emotion passed through them.
"Quite the display." He said.
"It is what my position affords me." I said and silence descended. After half a minute of staring Tohdoh-sensei finally spoke again.
"So, you are to be our executioner." He asked as if talking about the weather.
I couldn't keep the incredulous look that appeared on my face. "No, I came to give you news." I exclaimed and suddenly I felt that my old teacher was a lot more attentive.
"Oh? Do share." He said with humour that was wholly uncharacteristic of him.
"You will not be executed, but you will remain within these cells until we are ready. I will personally release you once we are ready. Soon, Britannia will change, and Japan will be the catalyst. I will ensure it." Tohdoh-Sensei laughed at my words.
"Hmm… You found something that made you change your ways. Have you become tired of being crushed underneath? Or do you believe that this will bring you to your goals faster?" I opened my mouth to respond but Tohdoh-Sensei acted faster.
"No matter. Your reasons have never made sense to me. But more Importantly… Are you set in this path? Determined to follow it to the end no matter what it might bring." He asked me.
"I have seen that I cannot change society from inside by myself, but neither can the Black Knights. Even if they win Japan its this freedom, Japan is just one country, not capable of keeping up with other countries in an environment where it can't play them off each other.
It will just be another war, more bloodshed, more tears and a new oppressor. True liberation and peace will only come if Britannia is changed from the top down. Made into an ally with favourable leadership." I stared into my old mentor's eyes as I finished my speech and found cold calculating orbs gazing into my soul.
"You would seek our help for this?" He uttered.
"I would seek the help of all those that would stand against the current crown of Britannia, but this war will not truly begin until we are ready." I got up off my knees and began to leave but Tohdoh-sensei said something that made me immediately turn back.
"That boy… Lelouch is alive isn't he. You plan on putting him on the throne." I flinched at his sure tone. How had he guessed?
"Do not look so surprised, I know you Suzaku and I know for a fact you wouldn't trust just anyone on the Throne which is the only way for you to accomplish your goals of changing Britannia. Or at least it is the one with the least amount of casualties." I could see his smile, it was soft, almost proud.
"Go on then Suzaku, follow your path to its end and if your path truly does align with mine, call upon me. This worthless life of mine will be yours to use if the time ever comes.
I couldn't manage to give him a proper reply. I was too shocked to realize that even with what I had given him our plan had been revealed so easily. I could only hope it wasn't so apparent to those that would seek to prevent it.
"I will not wish you a comfortable stay, it will not be one. The only thing I can promise you is that it will be a short one a month at worst." I promised. After that I turned to leave but I remembered one last thing to say.
"Oh and, don't mind the noise this evening." With those words I left with their eyes trailing after me.
In the future they would be of use to us to rally the Japanese once open rebellion finally began. But right now this very prison was like the pond back in the estate I had fished from and its inmates the bait. The fish? The Black Knights.
Lloyd Asplund Earl of Pudding and Slightly Unhinged Engineer
Oh what joy, what joy! I sat inside the tower of the prison complex going through my E-mails and enjoying a wonderful treat -specifically a pudding that was decidedly not made by Cecile -I am never eating coconut oil, salted sunflower seeds and peanut butter flavoured pudding ever again-, and jittering with anticipation about this evening's entertainment.
But how lucky for us to be able to test the Lancelot just after the new round of upgrades got completed! I'm sure Taylor will appreciate the new upgrades when she comes as well! I know how much she hates it when things are easy for her.
Though saying that I'm in trouble as well. If Cecile takes a look at this month's budget report, she really will saw my head off! And with the way things are going in the homeland there is no way Schneizel will up the budget. But there is still so much to add to the Lancelot, I can't just slow down!
Maybe the princess could help!? No… no, Cecile would catch wind of it if I talked to her. The Cybernetic limbs are also still not in production so I can't draw from them either... My personal funds are also in a bad shape, so not those either. Hmm… what to do? What to do?
Oh? A mail from Prince Schneizel? That's odd, he usually calls. It's not from his usual Mail either, it's from the 'don't talk about this' mail he uses… He's sending the Gawain here!? Without the Avalon too! But why?
Gawain's data processing suite is to be used to analyse a… 'Thought Elevator' in Kamine Island. Oh it comes with a Budget increase! I'm saved!
But getting serious for a second here, this is out of my expertise. Not that I can exactly say no. Well Cecile should be able to help me out there since he didn't say not to bring her along. I shouldn't push though… But Taylor… Taylor would definitely know something about this paranormal stuff, wouldn't she? In fact her power might just be connected to this 'Thought Elevator' thingy.
Well it would reveal the Gawain's existence to her, but she can't exactly act on that, since I could just not tell her about it till she arrives and when she does leave we could hide the Gawain before it could be destroyed.
Moreover, who cares! I get a budget increase, Prince Schneizel learns whatever he wants to learn, and Taylor learns of the Gawain! Everyone wins!
An: This chapter is brought to you by a man who has just remembered why he hates RISC-V with a passion. More importantly hope you enjoyed. I don't really have much to say about this chapter as it is generally just set up for the next chapter. So… see you in two weeks.
Ah also, I drew what I imagined Taylor's Knightmare to look like but as I am not an artist and don't have the money to commission one for this, so it's kind of low quality. (Only on Spacebattles sorry FF, I have no clue how to operate this hell site)